ITS KIRBY GATE. 55 



self to descend, the dead fox's tusk laid his leg open from knee 

 to thigh necessitating a sewing operation, and the irksome 

 possibility of being a month in kennel. There he is at present, 

 to the loss of his master and the Hunt, and to his own mental 

 and physical pain. 



And on Saturday, the llth, the Belvoir met at Goadby with 

 a view to Melton Spinney breaking the journey to that covert 

 with a short ring from Old Hills, when the intensity which the 

 technical term " blindness " can assume was not only vividly 

 embodied in the rough fences between plough and plough, but 

 was amply illustrated by horses madly carrying empty saddles 

 they knew not whither, and swallowtails legging it ungracefully 

 in pursuit. Assheton Smith once made the sweeping and un- 

 feeling remark that " a man never looks such a fool as when 

 running after his horse, and shouting to other people to catch 

 him." Had he said " never feels such a fool," I might be with 

 him. But, as a matter of fact, most of us are only too glad to 

 roll away as far and fast as we can, when a young one knees a 

 top binder or chances stiff timber. And, happily, men are 

 always found courteous and kind enough to slip a whip through 

 the runaway's reins, without enforcing the obligation upon the 

 panting owner by an allusion to the absurdity of his position. 

 For might not their own turn come at any moment ? Truly, 

 give-and-take is a precept as heartily practised as it is all need- 

 ful amid the ups-and-downs of foxhunting. It so happens 

 accountably enough, too, under the circumstances of new or 

 renovated studs and a country exceptionally blind that falls 

 have been particularly plentiful during the week past. Since 

 the one accident alluded to in my last, these tumbles on to soft 

 ground have served the purpose of renewing courage and reviv- 

 ing confidence rather than taken the form of catastrophe or 

 hurt. Thus, when the evening of Saturday last arrived, there 

 were few to complain of bruises or even stiffness though a 

 week's sudden and severe work had left palpable marks of 

 weariness and over-exertion on many an usually bright eye a.nd. 

 many a naturally rosy cheek. 



